Cat and Mouse Invade Manhattan
by silversapphire
Summary: The continueing saga of those intrepid newsgirls, Cat and Mouse. Now they meet the Manhattan Boys.
1. Visiting Manhattan

A/N: Okay, first things first to understand this fic you should read A Little Game of Cat and Mouse, it's a prequel to this one. You should also probably read Smarts and Dodger; it was the first in this series, but that's not as important as reading the other one.  
  
I wasn't planning on starting this one yet but since I was threatened with golf clubs, complained to and cursed at by reviewers in A Little Game's last chap I figured I should go ahead and post this one.  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own…wish I did…don't sue.  
  
Chapter One  
  
Cat was back to her old self. She had come to grips with the loss of the last of her family. Cat realized that it was better for her sister if she was dead and in heaven with their parents rather than starving in the streets. Of course this realization had come in the midst of a drunken fight with another drunk, but that didn't make it any less true.  
  
Cat and Mouse began to make a routine. They sold papes everyday until dinner then went back to the Brooklyn lodging house for the evening. Sometimes they would join the boys downstairs, avoiding River, who still hated them. Most of the time they would sit upstairs with Dodger while she told them stories about the Manhattan newsies. They had yet to meet these newsies since they were always out when the boys dropped by.  
  
After a few days or so Dodger was able to go back to Manhattan.  
  
"So, the boys are going to come and pick you up this morning?" Cat asked.  
  
"Yep! I'm going back home and tomorrow I'll get to go back to selling papes. I can't wait! Remember you promised that you'd come visit me."  
  
"We won't forget," Mouse promised her. Mouse had begun talking in front of Dodger now. This surprised her almost as much as it did Cat. Mouse hadn't spoken to anyone except Cat for close to three years.  
  
"I don't see why I can't come here."  
  
"Because the last time that you came to visit you stayed for two weeks," Spot told her from the doorway. He had just walked in to see how the girls were doing. It had become his custom to check on them as long as they didn't beat him out the door.  
  
"Jack told me that I'm not allowed to leave the lodging house without one of the boys with me from now on. He's so mean," Dodger had been sulking ever since Jack had grounded her. She still hadn't forgiven him.  
  
"It's for your own good," Dodger told her. "But don't worry we'll come by and see you next week, to make sure those boys are treating you right."  
  
"You promise?" she asked.  
  
"Yes, we promise." Cat answered for both of them. "Now we need to go sell, so we'll see you in a few days okay?"  
  
"Okay."  
  
The next week went by quickly. Finally the day came that they had promised they would visit Dodger. They sold their papers then started across the bridge. They reached the Manhattan Lodging House and walked through the door into a room filled with newsies.  
  
The room full of newsies came to a halt as they saw two girls come through their door. The girls were different than most girls they knew. The boys stared for two reasons. For one thing the girls were wearing pants; which was very odd: girls always wore skirts. The second reason was that they were very pretty  
  
"Mama mia," Race said, breaking the silence. At that moment Dodger came down the stairs.  
  
"Cat! Mouse! You're here!" she said launching herself in their direction. Cat caught her in a hug.  
  
"Did you miss us?" Cat asked.  
  
"Yes. I'm so glad you came to visit. Let me introduce you to the boys." Dodger turned towards the boys and realized they were all staring. "Hey, guys what's wrong?"  
  
Suddenly all the boys were talking at once. They all clambered forward to meet the girls. Dodger introduced them one by one. "This is my best friend Smarts…This is Racetrack Higgins…This is Specs…"  
  
On and on she went introducing each newsie as she went through the room. Finally they were through and Dodger decided to show them the bunkroom. As soon as she had them up there she turned and said, "So what did you think?"  
  
"Of what?" Cat asked.  
  
"Of Dutchy. Isn't he the cutest boy in the world?" she demanded.  
  
"Oh, yes, definitely the cutest, right Mouse?" Cat said with a wink at Mouse.  
  
"Cutest I've ever seen," Mouse said with a grin. "But on the other hand I think that kid, Snipeshooter likes you, he's awful cute."  
  
"Ew, Snipeshooter. He doesn't like me. He always so mean to me." The older girls shared a smile at this.  
  
"Anyway," Cat said. "How have you been? Have these boys been treating you good?"  
  
"They still won't let me go out by myself anymore. It's not fair."  
  
"Well, I'm sure they'll let you before too long. Why don't we go down stairs and see what those boys are up to?"  
  
"Okay, but they'll probably want to play poker and that's just boring."  
  
"Poker!" Cat said her eyes lighting up. "Poker's not boring."  
  
"Well, they won't teach me how to play so all I can do is watch and that's just boring!"  
  
"Why won't they teach you?" Mouse asked.  
  
"They say girls can't play poker that they don't understand it."  
  
Cat laughed. "Well, well, I guess I'll just have to teach them a lesson."  
  
Cat walked down the stairs back into the lobby. She gazed around the room until she saw a group of four newsies playing poker; a few others were gathered around watching. She walked over to them and said, "Mind if I join?"  
  
The newsies looked up and one said, "Oh, sure, we'd love to teach you how to play poker."  
  
Cat had difficulty keeping her face straight. "That's so nice of you, what was your name again?"  
  
"I'm Racetrack Higgins, but you can call me Race. These guys are Kid Blink, Mush and Cowboy. Here just have a seat between Blink and me and we'll show you how it's done."  
  
Cat sat down where Race had indicated and said, "Poker has always seemed like an interesting game."  
  
Race proceed to explain the game to her in elementary terms. "You see right now Mush is the dealer and he's going to give everybody cards. It's dealer's choice so Mush gets to decide the game. Right now you need to ante. Now that means that you…"  
  
Race went on to tell Cat about betting and which cards were which and other such things. Finally he felt she was ready to play. Mush dealt out the cards and they began to play. Cat folded even though she had a good hand. She wanted to give the boys a sense of false security. Jack won the pot in that hand. They played another hand, the deal passing to Race, Cat once again played bad deliberately. This time Mush won.  
  
"Now," Race told her. "This time the deal would go to you but I can do that if you want me to."  
  
"Oh, I think I'd like to give it a try." Cat picked up the cards and began to shuffle them expertly. She flipped through the deck without even looking at it or at her hands. She then began to deal them. The cards whizzed out of the deck like lightening. "Five card draw. Deuces, aces, and one-eyed faces are wild. Ante-up, boys."  
  
The four newsies who were in the game, as well as the others watching had all gone silent when Cat began shuffling cards. All eyes were on her as she picked up her cards. She turned to Blink on her left and said, "Well, you gonna start betting or not?"  
  
Everyone took turns betting then got more cards. Cat studied her hand: two Queens, a three, a ten and a seven. She discarded all but the Queens. The betting went around again, Mush, Jack, and Blink dropped out. Finally it was time to show down their cards.  
  
Race grinned at her. "You know, kid, you must know a little bit about poker but you still got a thing or two to learn from the king."  
  
He laid down his cards. Three kings. He laughed and began to pull in the pot.  
  
"Well, that's nice, Race but I'm afraid that just doesn't come close to what you get when you stick with your sisters." Cat laid down her cards: the two original queens plus a deuce and an ace. Four of a kind.  
  
"Us girls look out for one another," she said as she raked in the pot. The night went by in much the same way. Lady Luck was on Cat's side; she raked in two out of every three pots. Most of the newsies who were watching lost in the game and went to bed but the five players, Mouse, Dodger and a handful of others stayed until midnight.  
  
At the end of the last game Jack turned to her and said, "Are you sure your name's not Cardsharp?"  
  
"Yeah, or the Queen of Diamonds? She's shown up in four of your winning hands," Blink said pointing at the hand that Cat had just set down, sure enough there was the Queen of Diamonds.  
  
Cat grinned up at the boys. "Well, Diamonds are a girl's best friend." (A/N: Sorry I was listening to the Moulin Rouge Soundtrack when I wrote that line…I couldn't help myself)  
  
Cat picked up the pile of coins she had accumulated through the night and placed them in her gray cap. "Well, boys, it's been fun taking your money but we've got to be heading back to Brooklyn before it gets too late."  
  
"Why don't I walk the two of you back to Brooklyn," Blink suggested.  
  
"You want to walk all the way over to Brooklyn at night and then walk back by yourself? It'd be suicide to try and walk back by yourself at night. That's Sean O'Reilly's territory; his goons would make mincemeat out of you if you walked around by yourself," Jack told him.  
  
"What about two girls walking around by themselves?" Mush interrupted.  
  
"You know, he's right, girls." Jack told them. "Sean O'Reilly would be after you two in no time flat."  
  
"We can take care of ourselves. We're both really good at sticking to the shadows and things like that. It's sweet of you boys to worry about us though," Cat told them with a smirk.  
  
"I really think it would be better if you'd spend the night here. We've got extra bunks and that way we won't have to worry about you all night."  
  
"Really, it's okay. I was walking around the streets of Boston from the time I was ten years old."  
  
"These aren't exactly the streets of Boston, if you haven't noticed. This is New York City and you've only been here for a couple of weeks," Race interjected.  
  
Cat started to argue again but Dodger jumped in, "Cat, please stay. Those guys are so mean. Please stay here."  
  
Cat looked down at Dodger's pleading expression and remembered what Dodger had undergone at the hands of the goons they were discussing. Cat sighed, "Mouse?"  
  
Mouse gave a small nod.  
  
"All right, we'll stay, but just cause Dodger asked. Now why don't you show us where we're sleeping?" Cat suggested. 


	2. Spending the Night

A/N: I know it's been a while since I've updated but I've had a hard time pulling my brain out of summer break mode. Not to mention I have to use my mom's computer and have to share with my little brother so getting computer time doesn't happen as often as when I'm at school. Anyway, here are the responds to the last chapter:  
  
Stripes McKee - Mr. Whack-a-bat??!! O_O Uh, okaaaaaaaay...anyway moving on...  
  
Moth - unfortunately I did not update soon...but maybe the next chap won't take so long...glad you liked what i did so far  
  
Gemini Kelly - Thanks! *cue shameless self promotion* if you like Dodger and you haven't read her story I would suggest you read "Smarts and Dodger" it's a bit of an intro to her and one of the preludes to this story.  
  
Chapter Two  
  
"So where do we sleep?" Cat asked.  
  
"You can sleep with me." Race suggested with a wink.  
  
"Uh, no thanks."  
  
"Well, you can't blame a guy for trying."  
  
"Uh, we've got some extra bunks over there," Jack said pointing towards the center of the bunkroom.  
  
The girls walked over to the bunks that Jack had indicated and started getting ready for bed. The boys were all eyes, hoping to catch a glimpse of something, anything.  
  
Cat slid her shoes off and climbed up to the top bunk. Once up there she slid her overshirt off and draped it over the bedpost. She then unwrapped something from around her waist. None of the newsies had noticed it before because her shirt tail usually hung infront of it. It looked like a length of rope but it was made of leather. The boys finally realized that it was a bull whip. With a flick of her wrist Cat coiled it around the bedpost oppposite her shirt. She laid down and pulled her hat over her eyes.  
  
"Good night, Mouse. Good night Dodger."  
  
"Good night, Cat." Dodger replied. Everyone quickly drifted off to sleep.  
  
***  
  
The next morning Cat woke up to Klopman's habitual wake up call. She slid out of bed in a flash and hurried for the washroom. She and Mouse hurried through their morning routine before the boys could invade. She was back her bunk tucking her whip around her waist before most of the boys could get out of bed.  
  
"Why are you carrying a whip?" Cat heard from her right. She looked over to see Dodger's friend, Smarts standing with other boys near by.  
  
"It's my weapon of choice if I'm ever in a fight. It causes a lot of pain without the user having to get to close to their attacker," she told him. "It's actually how I got my nickname. A lot of people think it's the shortened version of my first name, but it actually comes from a type of whip called the cat-'o-nine-tails. The guys who gave me the name thought it was a good nickname even though I told them that I had never used a cat-'o- nine-tails before. I didn't argue too much or I could have been named Bull Whip."  
  
"So you actually know how to use that thing?" the newsie called Blink asked.  
  
"Sure. It's not that hard once you get the hang of it. Watch this." Cat flicked her wrist and unwound the whip from her waist and perched on the bunk above everyone's heads. After a second Jake walked towards them humming to himself. He was dressed for the day including his hat. As he came even with Cat she flicked the whip making a loud pop. Jake's hat flew across the room before skidding across the floor.  
  
"Hey, what did you do that for?" he asked, indigantly.  
  
"For, fun," Cat replied. She hopped down from the bed and picked the hat up. She dusted it off and handed it back to him. "Don't worry I didn't hurt it."  
  
He took it back from her and plopped it on his head. He turned and left the bunkroom giving Cat one final glare.  
  
"Well, looks like your making all kinds of new friends," Jack said from behind her.  
  
"That's me: Miss Popularity." Cat said with an unrepentant grin. Cat flicked her wrist gently and the whip curled around her waist. She then put on her cap and looked at Mouse. "Ready to go?"  
  
Mouse nodded.  
  
"Well, then, back to Brooklyn. Bye, Dodger. We'll stop by to see you again sometime. Make these boys bring you by Brooklyn sometime, okay?" "Okay, Cat. I'll see you soon." Dodger answered.  
  
Cat and Mouse walked through Manhattan and across the Brooklyn Bridge. By the time they got there it was time for the afternoon papes. They bought some and went to their usual selling spot. After they finished they went to the pier where the Brooklyn newsies usually hung out after selling. To their surprise they were the first to show up.  
  
"I can't believe we beat Spot selling today," Mouse said. "He's usally the first through."  
  
"I know. I can't wait to rub it in his face that we got here first.," Cat told her as she plopped down on the wooden planks of the pier. The girls leaned back against piles of boxes. Cat stretched her legs out while Mouse sat cross legged. They began to discuss newsies they had met the night before.  
  
"So, what did you think of the dark one with curly hair, what's his name, Mush?" Cat asked.  
  
Mouse turned bright pink. "He was okay I guess."  
  
Cat noticed the blush and grinned.  
  
"Yeah, he was real cute." Cat said trying to see Mouse's reaction. She had noticed Mouse looking at him several times throughout the night.  
  
"Well, what about the short one, Race?" Mouse shot back trying to make Cat as uncomfortable as she was.  
  
"Oh, yeah, he was nice alright. Um hmmm." Cat grinned at Mouse and winked. "I LOVE Italian men."  
  
"Last week you said the same thing about French guys when we met that one that was so cute," Mouse told her. "And the week before that it was Greeks. Before that I believe it was Canadians, not that I see how they're different from Americans excpet maybe an accent."  
  
"So what? I LOVE all men!" Cat said with a grin as she lit a cigarette she had bummed off one of the Manhattan newsies. The girls talked for a while longer before they realized they were still alone.  
  
"I wonder what's keeping those boys. The papes weren't hard to sell and we've been here a half an hour almost." Cat said.  
  
"Yeah, it sure is strange. Hey, who's that?" Mouse said as a small figure ran towards them. As he neared the girls recoginized him as Sparrow, one of Spot's little birdies.  
  
"Cat! Mouse!" he yelled hurring towards them with fear in his eyes.  
  
  
  
A/N: DUN DUN DUN Cliffhanger!!! Anyway, read and review, also see if you can guess why Spot and the Brooklyn Newsies are missing! Okay I must go now and paiently (yeah right) await the arrival of the Harry Potter DVD (in stores May 28th)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hehe until then hit the button, send a review, and make me feel loved! ttfn! 


	3. Trouble in Brooklyn

A/N: Hello everyone, I don't know if anyone noticed my name changes but a friend of mine was being a brat and messed with my computer…anyway, a funny little side note, I just finished reading a novel that had a main character named RACE! Isn't that cool? It was set in England about in the Eighteenth century about six months after the battle of Waterloo…I thought it was very interesting. Anyway here are the responses for the reviews…ps thanks for the reviews.  
  
Moth: glad you liked the last chapter and just read on to find out…  
  
Stripes McKee: um, okay…::blink, blink:: well, um have fun with that.  
  
Athena: ::ducks:: nice to see you too, my old friend…so nice to hear from you…how's everything out your way? anyway…hope to see you update your story soon!  
  
Chapter Three  
  
"What is it, Sparrow? Where is everyone?" Cat asked.  
  
"Spot sent me to find you," he told them, panting. "There's trouble-"  
  
He stopped trying to catch his breath.  
  
"Trouble? What kind of trouble?" Cat said grasping Sparrow by the shoulders.  
  
"There was a big rumble last night while you guys were gone. Sean O'Reilly and his goons soaked us bad. They took over the lodging house and kicked us all out. They got some of the newsies on their side, River and his friends mostly. River told Sean when Spot would be out late last night. Sean and his boys came in wrecked the place while Spot was out. They soaked everyone who was there and kicked everyone who wouldn't side with him. We can't get back in, they got the place too heavily guarded."  
  
"I never did like River much," Cat said with a frown. "Is Spot going after O'Reilly?"  
  
"I think he's planning something, I don't know what yet, but we'll let you know when we decide something. Everyone scattered towards Queens, Staten, and Da Bronx. Spot's in Queens staying with some of the boys up there. He sent me to find you and tell you to go to Manhattan. He made sure none of the other boys went there, so that if O'Reilly goes hunting for us he won't go there after the two of you. When you get to Manhattan tell Jack what's going on as soon as you get there. Spot wants to see him to discuss a plan. I doubt they've heard what with none of the Brooklyn boys headed there. I gotta get back to Queens and report to Spot. You two stay low and out of sight." With that Sparrow was off and running again.  
  
"Well, looks like we should head back to Manhattan and tell them what's going on," Mouse suggested. "They'll want to know, since they're such good friends with Spot."  
  
The girls hiked back across the bridge and headed towards the lodging house. By the time they got to the lodging house it was dusk; they walked in the front room of the lodging house and looked around. The boys were gathered much as they had been the night before.  
  
"Hey, back already?" Race called out to them. "Did you miss me that much?"  
  
"Whatever," Cat said, looking around for Jack. She figured she should tell him first since he was sort of the leader of Manhattan. "Listen, where's Jack?"  
  
"He's off seeing his girlfriend, Sarah. Why do you need to see him?" Blink asked.  
  
"I need to tell him something from Spot. It's pretty important."  
  
"I'll take you to the Jacob's apartment and see where if Sarah's parent's know where they went," Race told them sensing that what they had to tell Jack was important.  
  
"I'll come too," Mush offered.  
  
Before they knew it Cat and Mouse had five newsies all wanting to come with them. They made Dodger and Smarts stay at the lodging house and finally set out with Race, Mush, and Blink.  
  
"Just follow me and we'll be there in no time," Race told them as he set out in the lead. They hurried through back alleys and down side streets until they got to the apartment building the Jacobs' lived in. They went up the fire escape as had become the habit of all the newsies when visiting the Jacobs'. Race tapped on the closed window.  
  
Cat watched as it slid open and a middle-aged woman stuck her head out. "Race, Blink, Mush, it's so good to see you boys. Come in. Come in."  
  
The five newsies climbed through the window into a cozy but shabby little apartment. Cat looked around and saw for the first time in years what could be described as a home. There was the lived in feeling of clutter and cramped space. That was not to say that the apartment was dirty but there were small items lying about: afternoon edition of the World on the table and a small wooden sword propped against the wall.  
  
"If you're here to see David, he and his father stepped out for a minute and he'll be back in about five minutes," Mrs. Jacobs told them. She then noticed the two girls standing in the group. "Oh, boys who are your friends?"  
  
"Oh, Mrs. Jacobs, these girls are Cat and Mouse. They're Brooklyn newsies," Blink jumped in.  
  
"Oh, it's so nice to meet you girls. We love meeting any of the newsies. Can I offer you something to eat? We don't have much but we will be glad to share."  
  
"Thank you, very much, Mrs. Jacobs, but we really need to find Jack. Do you know where he might be?" Cat asked her.  
  
"Oh, he and Sarah went to Medda's for the evening. Sarah has wanted to see Medda's new show. She missed it when all of you boys went last week," Mrs. Jacobs explained. "I don't expect them in for another hour. Do you want to wait here for them?"  
  
"No thank you, Mrs. Jacobs. We really need to find Jack." Cat told her before any of the boys decided to wait and bum food off the Jacobs'.  
  
Soon the newsies were back out the window and walking down the street towards Medda's. They reached it a few minutes and went through the stage door that the newsies frequently used. They were met by Toby the candy butcher.  
  
"Hello, boys. Here to see the show again already?" he asked.  
  
"No, Toby. We need to talk to Jack. Is he in the balcony?" Mush told him.  
  
"Just like always." Toby answered. "Got his girl with him tonight."  
  
The newsies trooped up the stairs toward the balcony.  
  
A/N: I know this ends rather abruptly but I thought I should probably update since it had been awhile and I couldn't think of any thing else…but I'll work on it this weekend…I'll get back to you with more later in the meantime R&R. Any one who reviews will get home-made chocolate chip cookies…I baked them myself this afternoon. 


	4. The Next Chapter (Sorry couldn't think o...

Chapter Four  
  
The group of newsies let themselves in the balcony. They looked through the group of kids trying to locate Jack and Sarah. Finally they spotted them in the middle of the balcony on the first row.  
  
"Jack! Hey, Jack!" Race called out over the crowd. Several people turned around to glare at him. "Jack! Over here!"  
  
Finally Jack seemed to hear and turned around. They all waved him over frantically. He glared at them but rose to his feet and walked to the back of the balcony.  
  
"This had better be important," Jack told them harshly. The three Manhattan looked at each other, realizing that they had no idea why they had come all this way.  
  
"It is," Cat assured Jack. "Let's step out the door for a minute, okay."  
  
"Oh, hi, Cat, Mouse. I didn't see you there," Jack told them.  
  
"Hi," Cat said while Mouse nodded. "Listen, this is important. Last night while we were in your lodging house Spot went out for the night and Sean O'Reilly forced his way into the Brooklyn lodging house. He's taken over and all the Brooklyn boys who didn't turn have headed out for different boroughs. Spot's with some of the boys in Queens. He wants to see you and try to come up with a plan."  
  
"Well, damn. I'd better head for Queens now then. It sounds pretty important. I'll need you three to come with me incase there's trouble. Cat, do you think that you and Mouse can make it back to the lodging house by yourselves?"  
  
"No problem. It's just a short walk. Nothing to worry about, but there is one problem," she told him.  
  
"What's that?" he asked.  
  
"What are you going to do with your girl?" Cat asked pointing into the balcony towards Sarah.  
  
"Oh, yeah, forgot about her. Can you guys take her by the Jacob's apartment on your way to the lodging house?"  
  
"Yeah, we came by there on the way here and I'm sure she knows how to get back anyway."  
  
"I wouldn't bet on that," Blink muttered. The other guys snickered.  
  
"Anyway," Jack said, glaring at them, "if Dave's at the apartment when you get back tell him I want him to be in charge until I get back. I don't know when that'll be but it shouldn't be but a day or so. Dave is Sarah's brother, he's a newsie you have met yet."  
  
"Sure, we'll let him know."  
  
"Well, guys, let's head for Queens." He turned and headed for the stairs down to the bottom level of the hall.  
  
"Wait, Jack, you want to tell your girl the change in plans?" Cat asked.  
  
"Oh, yeah, forgot again." Jack turned and went in the balcony and talked briefly to Sarah. After a moment the two of them strolled back towards the other newsies. Sarah did not look happy. "Cat, Mouse this is Sarah Jacobs. Sarah this is Cat and Mouse, two Brooklyn Newsies."  
  
"Nice to meet, you." Cat said offering her hand.  
  
Sarah looked at the newsprint covering Cat's hand before hesitantly shaking hands with her. "Nice to meet both of you as well."  
  
She turned and shook the hand that Mouse offered. Mouse smiled and nodded.  
  
"Mouse doesn't talk. That's how she got her name, she's as quiet as a mouse." Cat explained.  
  
"Oh," Sarah said shortly. Cat could almost see her mind attaching the word odd to Mouse.  
  
"Well, we have to get out of here," Jack told them. "You just stick with Cat and Mouse until you get to your building and then they have a message for Dave."  
  
"Jack, why can't you take me home?" she whined.  
  
"I told you I have some important stuff to take care of. I have to go see if I can help Spot out."  
  
"I don't see why you have to run off to help him in the middle of the night. I mean what can you do at this hour?"  
  
"Listen, I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow or maybe the next day. Bye." With that Jack and the boys hurried down the stairs of the theatre. (A/N: is it theatre or theater?)  
  
Sarah turned towards Cat and Mouse and looked them over. She sniffed slightly and looked at the pants both girls were wearing. Her nose turned up slightly at the sight of the small layer of dust and dirt that covered them. Finally she gave a tight little smile and said, "Well, shall we be on our way?"  
  
"Oh, let's," Cat said, mockingly cheerful.  
  
They headed out the door and down the street in the direction of the Jacobs' apartment. Cat was fairly sure of the direction but paused a few times to check with Sarah. She proved to be little help, mostly shrugging her shoulders and saying, "I guess."  
  
They finally reached the apartment with little difficulty. Cat started up the fire escape before realizing that Sarah would prefer the stairs inside the building. They went in the building and up the stairs. Sarah let them in with her key.  
  
"Oh, Sarah, are you back so soon?" Mrs. Jacobs asked. "Where's Jack?"  
  
"He had some kind of business to take care of and he asked these two girls to walk me home. They're newsies, too."  
  
"Oh, yes we met earlier when Race and the boys stopped by looking for Jack. Thank you girls for walking back with Sarah. If you wait a few minutes David will be back and he can walk you back to the lodging house or you can stay the night here if you want," Mrs. Jacobs offered kindly.  
  
"Oh, that's all right ma'am. We can make by ourselves, but we do have a message for Dave from Jack. Is it okay if we wait here?" Cat asked.  
  
"Oh, that's fine. In fact have a seat at the table and I'll get you a plate of food."  
  
That sounded good to both the girls since they had missed getting dinner in all the walking they had done that night. On the other hand they recognized the face of poverty in the Jacob's home lying beneath the homely façade Mrs. Jacobs had given the apartment.  
  
"Oh, we don't want to be a bother; we'll just wait by the door." Just then Cat's stomach rumbled in protest.  
  
"Nonsense, you're obviously hungry. I insist you eat something. You'll hurt my feelings if you don't. Now sit down." Unable to resist the motherly tone that Mrs. Jacobs employed or the lure of food; both girls sat down at the kitchen table and ate the food that she set before them.  
  
  
  
A/N: This was a much longer chapter…much longer but I decided to break it down a bit so that it was two slightly shorter chapters. I still have some fine-tuning to do to the other chapter but it should be up sometime next week. If it's not I apologize ahead of time. I'm spending the weekend at the local Girls Scout Camp, helping out with a program and I'm supposed to start my new job next week. Moving on to the next order of business…I know I did a lot of Sarah bashing in this chapter and I'm sorry to all ya'll who like her but I find her annoying and so I bashed her. Next, thanks to my reviewers but for this chapter I don't have any responses…I'll make it up to next chapter…I'm having to use one computer to type (my computer) and another to connect to the internet (my mom's). It's just too much effort to run back and forth between the two. 


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